When Big Data Slows Down

Digital Humanities and the Study of Roman Amphitheaters

Sebastian Heath sebastian.heath@nyu.edu

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RomanEmpire_117_recoloured_2.svg

Colosseum

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colosseum_II.jpg

Amphitheaters around the Empire

Roman Empire Outline: http://awmc.unc.edu/

Pause for Themes, Terms and Questions

Many sizes

RStudio

http://www.r-project.org & http://rstudio.org

Media Rich (Google)

Assisi in Italy (Maximum dimension not known? Arena 65 x 38 Meters)

Media Rich (Google)

Carsulae in Italy (84 x 62 Meters)

Gladiators, Beast Hunts and Executions

The Zliten (Libya) Mosaic (C. 2nd Century AD?)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Bestiarii.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Circus_Leptis_Magna_Libya.JPG/1024px-Circus_Leptis_Magna_Libya.JPG

Many sizes… but not all shapes

“Media Rich” (Nimes)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arena_of_Nimes_2_HDR.jpg

“Media Rich” (Nimes)

“Media Rich” (Trier)

Public Information

http://www.maumburyrings.co.uk or “Peak Amphitheater”

How many amphitheater seats were there?

ramphs.all <- ramphs
ramphs.all.sp <- ramphs.sp

ramphs <- ramphs[ramphs$include,]
ramphs.sp <- ramphs.sp[ramphs.sp$include,]
  
ramphs$imputed.capacity <- NA
ramphs$imputed.capacity[!(is.na(ramphs$capacity))] <- ramphs[!(is.na(ramphs$capacity)),]$capacity

lm.imp.1 <- lm ( capacity ~ latitude +
                   ext.major + ext.minor + arena.major +
                   arena.minor + arena.major:ext.minor + arena.minor * ext.minor,
                data=ramphs )

pred.1 <- predict (lm.imp.1, ramphs)
ramphs$imputed.capacity <- ifelse (is.na(ramphs$capacity), pred.1, ramphs$capacity)

lm(capacity ~ ext.major, ramphs[(ramphs$ext.major < 120) & (ramphs$ext.major > 50),]) -> lm.ext.major
ramphs$imputed.capacity[(!is.na(ramphs$ext.major)) & (is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity))] <- ramphs$ext.major[(!is.na(ramphs$ext.major)) & (is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity))] * lm.ext.major$coefficients[2]

length(ramphs$imputed.capacity[is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity)])
## [1] 73
ramphs$imputed.capacity[is.na(ramphs$imputed.capacity)] <- 5000

sum(ramphs$imputed.capacity)
## [1] 2265850

With many thanks to Katie Anderson of NYU Libaries Data Services who is in no way responsible for my (mis?)use of her work.

Where are the amphitheaters seats?

Spatial History

R. White. What is Spatial History? Spatial History Lab: Working paper; Submitted 1 February 2010;

Paragraph 36 (emphasis author): “One of the important points that I want to make about visualizations, spatial relations, and spatial history is something that I did not fully understand until I started doing this work and which I have had a hard time communicating fully to my colleagues: visualization and spatial history are not about producing illustrations or maps to communicate things that you have discovered by other means. It is a means of doing research; it generates questions that might otherwise go unasked, it reveals historical relations that might otherwise go unnoticed, and it undermines, or substantiates, stories upon which we build our own versions of the past.”

Calculating Distances

Who should know how to do this?

#generate distances of all amphitheaters to all other amphitheaters
ramphs.dists <- spDists(ramphs.sp,ramphs.sp,longlat = TRUE)

# but let's use names
colnames(ramphs.dists) <- ramphs$id
rownames(ramphs.dists) <- ramphs$id

# Would be nice to have a d.f in the form from,to,km
as.data.frame(ramphs.dists) -> ramphs.dists.df

#add column of names, in anticipation of using gather()
cbind(from = ramphs$id,ramphs.dists.df) -> ramphs.dists.df

gather(ramphs.dists.df, to, km, 2:dim(ramphs.dists.df)[2]) -> ramphs.dists.df

# data now in nice columns but...
# we still have the 0Km rows.
#set phasers to kill...
ramphs.dists.df[ramphs.dists.df$km > 0,] -> ramphs.dists.df

The Data

from to km
2 arlesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3241.8637
3 lyonAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3255.7344
4 romeFlavianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2579.4293
5 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense duraEuroposAmphitheater 2577.5114
6 eleutheropolisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 645.7789
7 meridaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4177.5360
8 newsteadAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4025.3811
9 conimbrigaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4341.4319
10 cumaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2433.6452
11 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2427.6184
12 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2427.4305
13 syracuseAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2304.6697
14 carthageAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2747.3387
15 hadrianVillaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2556.7911
16 corinthAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1636.6076
17 marcianopolisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1474.9250
18 porolissumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2013.5727
19 nijmegenAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3355.6355
20 carnuntumMilitaryAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2466.9678
21 carnuntumCivilianAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2468.8220
22 leptisMagnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2453.6977
23 empuriesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3355.0218
24 tarragonaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3509.8708
25 cagliariAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2843.1324
26 italicaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4179.6454
27 segobrigaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3862.8982
28 catiniaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2321.2086
29 paestumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2347.9264
30 lunaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2818.9115
31 casinumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2463.0371
32 viminaciumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1997.6238
33 flaviaSolvaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2491.4773
34 rusellaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2704.1570
35 parisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3503.1993
36 octodurusForumClaudiiVallensiumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3091.3570
37 cyreneAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1758.7145
38 libarnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2922.8465
39 luceriaNoukeriaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2338.2406
40 avellaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2389.3544
41 nimesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3265.2724
42 charterhouseAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3913.4313
43 chesterAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3968.2666
44 gennesAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3665.4275
45 scylletiumScolaciumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2194.2565
46 oudnaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2762.5166
47 carthagoNovaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3734.8512
48 virunumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2573.2558
49 carsulaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2587.5644
50 florenceAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2715.0934
51 ocriculumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2590.6507
52 lixusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4236.4306
53 arezzoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2659.1569
54 larinumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2379.4143
55 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2575.1280
56 allifaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2418.0908
57 cimiezAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3030.6213
58 hydataHypsitanaForumTraianiAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2870.7728
59 luccaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2776.2445
60 hispellumAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2586.4036
61 veronaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2777.8239
62 aquincumCivilAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2295.8815
63 aquincumMilitaryAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2294.5178
64 aldburoughAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3897.0494
65 perigueuxAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3567.3616
66 cividateCamunoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2845.9662
67 grumentoAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2269.7408
68 albaFucensAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2507.4774
69 colAugustaRauricaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3080.9122
70 sutriumAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2606.8748
71 sarmizegetusaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 1932.7637
72 salonaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2300.9942
73 londonAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3739.6890
74 tiburAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2555.5455
75 caerleonAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3935.9530
76 telesiaAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2402.6495
77 urbisagliaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2533.6269
78 saintesAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 3678.1577
79 assisiAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 2591.6974
80 durresAmphitheatre duraEuroposAmphitheater 1998.7495
81 lambaesisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3127.0012
82 mactarisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2857.1786
83 cirencesterAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3871.4994
84 vindonissaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3043.5466
85 thysdrusSmallAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2730.0252
86 frejusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3070.4752
87 gortynAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1440.7413
88 leptiminusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2710.4584
89 miciaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1954.3939
90 gemellaeAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3209.0205
91 cherchellAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 3470.7413
92 pulaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2544.6444
93 carmonaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 4144.6798
94 caesareaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 595.2877
95 pergamumAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1299.6263
96 anazarbusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 516.0525
97 antiochAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 444.7205
98 cyzicusAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 1294.0974
99 sabrathaAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 2615.5671
100 salamisAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 625.1647
101 paphosAmphitheater duraEuroposAmphitheater 761.9085

Amphitheaters Closer <= 80 Km.

from to km
252 nimesAmphitheater arlesAmphitheater 27.9687539
638 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense romeFlavianAmphitheater 1.9179319
648 hadrianVillaAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 24.4592422
684 ocriculumAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 57.8988659
688 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 27.9206250
701 albaFucensAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 79.0177124
703 sutriumAmphitheatre romeFlavianAmphitheater 44.4399399
707 tiburAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 26.5447118
760 monteleoneAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 48.7236605
813 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 27.7012943
827 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 2.1340177
835 faleriiNoviAmphitheater romeFlavianAmphitheater 47.0474041
848 romeFlavianAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 1.9179319
859 hadrianVillaAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 22.6892929
895 ocriculumAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 58.2690286
899 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 27.6677326
912 albaFucensAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 77.2652498
914 sutriumAmphitheatre romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 45.6300686
918 tiburAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 24.8254037
971 monteleoneAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 47.7546597
1024 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 26.3553070
1038 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 3.9825622
1046 faleriiNoviAmphitheater romeAmphitheatrumCastrense 47.7821715
1846 bobadelaAmphitheater conimbrigaAmphitheater 58.7178710
1910 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 6.1073447
1911 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 6.2837252
1930 casinumAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 73.7562075
1939 avellaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 48.4031736
1955 allifaeAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 58.5692162
1975 telesiaAmphitheatre cumaeAmphitheater 56.5159704
2030 beneventoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 68.9187382
2031 calviRisortaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 40.5962748
2042 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 31.5102458
2043 capuaImperialAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 31.6279460
2044 liternoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 9.0374043
2045 noleAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 40.2940775
2056 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 51.8324988
2071 aquinoAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 78.6335590
2109 minturnaeAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 50.7130994
2110 sinuessaAmphitheater cumaeAmphitheater 38.8242914
2120 cumaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 6.1073447
2122 pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 0.1970432
2141 casinumAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 77.1704472
2150 avellaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 43.4014628
2166 allifaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 58.1718231
2186 telesiaAmphitheatre pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 54.2711716
2241 beneventoAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 64.7172784
2242 calviRisortaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 41.7859029
2253 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 30.5667414
2254 capuaImperialAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 30.7001985
2255 liternoAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 13.2343994
2256 noleAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 35.1755547
2267 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 45.7526823
2320 minturnaeAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 55.2462354
2321 sinuessaAmphitheater pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater 43.2720751
2331 cumaeAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 6.2837252
2332 pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 0.1970432
2352 casinumAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 77.2015414
2361 avellaAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 43.2076626
2377 allifaeAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 58.0807452
2397 telesiaAmphitheatre pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 54.1308566
2452 beneventoAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 64.5340894
2453 calviRisortaAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 41.7470277
2464 capuaRepublicanAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 30.4682517
2465 capuaImperialAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 30.6020895
2466 liternoAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 13.3253543
2467 noleAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 34.9808437
2478 noceraSuperioreAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 45.5688926
2531 minturnaeAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 55.3241795
2532 sinuessaAmphitheater pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater 43.3485126
2560 catiniaAmphitheater syracuseAmphitheater 50.9785638
2789 oudnaAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 30.3648270
2925 uticaAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 31.6378238
2926 tebourbaAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 42.8836577
2927 hencherElKasbatAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 62.5833037
2933 pupputAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 55.9193622
2941 carpisAmphitheater carthageAmphitheater 24.1028949
2958 romeFlavianAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 24.4592422
2959 romeAmphitheatrumCastrense hadrianVillaAmphitheater 22.6892929
3003 carsulaeAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 79.5150391
3005 ocriculumAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 58.1566593
3009 lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 25.8478135
3022 albaFucensAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 54.5782990
3024 sutriumAmphitheatre hadrianVillaAmphitheater 56.1999547
3028 tiburAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 2.6290540
3080 sanBenedettoDeiMarsiAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 70.6998945
3081 monteleoneAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 32.6535029
3087 sanVittorinoAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 67.0034237
3134 genzanoPrivateAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 28.4519171
3148 statiliusTaurusAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 26.0596583
3156 faleriiNoviAmphitheater hadrianVillaAmphitheater 52.9033948
3951 xantenAmphitheater nijmegenAmphitheater 43.8873024
4030 carnuntumCivilianAmphitheater carnuntumMilitaryAmphitheater 3.6214332
4168 sopronAmphitheater carnuntumMilitaryAmphitheater 53.2829375
4240 carnuntumMilitaryAmphitheater carnuntumCivilianAmphitheater 3.6214332
4379 sopronAmphitheater carnuntumCivilianAmphitheater 50.3097860
5368 carmonaAmphitheater italicaAmphitheater 35.1384584
5710 syracuseAmphitheater catiniaAmphitheater 50.9785638
5948 avellaAmphitheater paestumAmphitheater 68.6287749
5975 grumentoAmphitheater paestumAmphitheater 78.3291809

As a Network

Bigger Labels

Degree

http://www.slideshare.net/gcheliotis/social-network-analysis-3273045

##    Min. 1st Qu.  Median    Mean 3rd Qu.    Max. 
##    1.00    1.00    3.00    6.24   10.00   20.00

High Degree

# print the top quartile
V(close.amphitheaters.nw)[degree >= summary(V(close.amphitheaters.nw)$degree/2)[5]]
## Vertex sequence:
##  [1] "romeFlavianAmphitheater"          "romeAmphitheatrumCastrense"      
##  [3] "cumaeAmphitheater"                "pozzuoliFlavianAmphitheater"     
##  [5] "pozzuoliEarlyAmphitheater"        "carthageAmphitheater"            
##  [7] "hadrianVillaAmphitheater"         "paestumAmphitheater"             
##  [9] "casinumAmphitheater"              "luceriaNoukeriaAmphitheater"     
## [11] "avellaAmphitheater"               "oudnaAmphitheater"               
## [13] "carsulaeAmphitheater"             "ocriculumAmphitheater"           
## [15] "arezzoAmphitheater"               "larinumAmphitheater"             
## [17] "lucusFeroniaeAmphitheater"        "allifaeAmphitheater"             
## [19] "hispellumAmphitheatre"            "albaFucensAmphitheater"          
## [21] "sutriumAmphitheatre"              "tiburAmphitheater"               
## [23] "telesiaAmphitheatre"              "urbisagliaAmphitheater"          
## [25] "assisiAmphitheatre"               "mactarisAmphitheater"            
## [27] "thysdrusSmallAmphitheater"        "leptiminusAmphitheater"          
## [29] "sanBenedettoDeiMarsiAmphitheater" "monteleoneAmphitheater"          
## [31] "bolsenaAmphitheater"              "anconaAmphitheater"              
## [33] "ascoliPicenoAmphitheater"         "beneventoAmphitheater"           
## [35] "calviRisortaAmphitheater"         "sanVittorinoAmphitheater"        
## [37] "capuaRepublicanAmphitheater"      "capuaImperialAmphitheater"       
## [39] "liternoAmphitheater"              "noleAmphitheater"                
## [41] "noceraSuperioreAmphitheater"      "aquinoAmphitheater"              
## [43] "seressiAmphitheater"              "chemtouAmphitheater"             
## [45] "bekaltaAmphitheater"              "sidiBouArkoubAmphitheater"       
## [47] "genzanoPrivateAmphitheater"       "ainHedjahAmphitheater"           
## [49] "uticaAmphitheater"                "tebourbaAmphitheater"            
## [51] "hencherElKasbatAmphitheater"      "hencherZembraAmphitheater"       
## [53] "bullaRegiaAmphitheater"           "pupputAmphitheater"              
## [55] "siccaVeneriaAmphitheater"         "thibariAmphitheater"             
## [57] "statiliusTaurusAmphitheater"      "carpisAmphitheater"              
## [59] "faleriiNoviAmphitheater"          "venosaAmphitheater"              
## [61] "teramoAmphitheater"               "ordonaAmphitheater"              
## [63] "bevanaAmphitheater"               "minturnaeAmphitheater"           
## [65] "sinuessaAmphitheater"

Mapping Degree

Plotting Degree

Distance to Road

http://darmc.harvard.edu/

Counting Seats Near Roads

Seats Near “Major” Cities

… and Riots

alt text http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Pompeian_mural_depicting_the_Amphitheatre_riots.jpg

Blatant Eye Candy?